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Down Memory Lane

The IRS is getting steadily and significantly more
aggressive in its pursuit of taxpayers who owe back taxes. Back in the
1990s, after Congress held hearing after hearing which exposed
business-as-usual abusive behavior by IRS agents, laws were changed.
The IRS restrained itself. New laws restrained it too. This hated and
feared government agency was reined in. The IRS made explicit efforts
to be a “kinder, gentler” government agency. No more though.

Meet the new boss

Fast forward a few years to the 2000s: The country is
fighting a long and expensive war. The historic, large government
surpluses of the late 1990s have disappeared and been replaced by
historic, enormous debts. The country is broke, and the IRS has been
given marching orders to do something about it – that is, collect more
tax money.

Collectors on steroids – pumping up IRS collection stats

So, while seven, eight, and nine years ago, the IRS’s
focus was, however briefly, on “service,” to help taxpayers understand
the rules and bring them back into the system, in recent years and
especially now, the focus and the resources of the IRS have been
pointed right at enforcement. (“Enforcement” is a neutral-sounding word
for the life-disrupting powers the IRS has to freeze bank accounts,
seize bank accounts, garnish paychecks, ruin credit ratings by filing
liens.)

The numbers show a steady increase in enforcement. For
example, filing federal tax liens has risen approximately 20% from more
than 544,000 in 2003 to almost 630,000 in 2006.

More immediately noticeable and damaging to a taxpayer
is when the IRS acts to levy and so take by blunt force a taxpayer’s
assets, whether it is a bank account or wages, or even accounts
receivable owed to the taxpayer by the taxpayer’s customers or clients.
Levies have more than doubled since 2003 from a just under 1.7 million
to more than 3.7 million.

Just look at the steady rise since 2003 shown in a
chart made from the IRS’s own statistics:

2003

2004

2005

2006

Enforcement activity:

Number of notices of Federal tax liens filed

544,316

534,392

522,887

629,813

Number of notices of levy served
upon third parties

1,680,844

2,029,613

2,743,577

3,742,276

Number of seizures

399

440

512

590

What this all means is that the IRS is more energetic than ever in its
efforts to go out and collect taxes that it believes are owed.

A reporter recently asked: “What do people dread about
tax season and why?”

In our experience, people dread what seem like
tentacles, claws, and the inescapable grip of the IRS.

It can be like a nightmare or horror movie come to
life: an enormously powerful, seemingly brutal, irrational and
punishing bureaucracy that can focus on you, a taxpayer who’s just
trying to make a living and pay his or her bills, and use that focus
and that power to take over your life, turn it upside down, ask all
sorts of invasive questions and do the financial equivalent of a
colonoscopy – without an anesthetic!

The dread also comes from the fear that this huge and
hugely powerful bureaucracy might use its huge power to freeze your
bank account, empty it, and even seize your paycheck.

While taxpayers who are up-to-date might dread the tax
man one season a year, if you’ve fallen behind, it is the sort of fear
that stays with you all the time because this is a problem that will
not go away by itself.

IRS problems do not have to last
forever – you can do something about it!

Even though an IRS problem will not go away by itself,
it doesn’t mean you are stuck with it forever. Fortunately, if you
decide to do something about it and take action, these are problems
which can be solved.

We help taxpayers, both individuals and businesses,
solve their tax problems so they can take their lives and businesses
back. Our clients get the added peace of mind of knowing that when they
hire us we talk to the IRS for you, so that you don’t have to. Read
more about putting your IRS problem into the past by going to the page,
IRS Tax Problem Solving –
Tax Controversy Resolution. To get there, click here now.

Not only do we vigorously represent the rights of
taxpayers, sometimes the IRS just gets it wrong, and we help our
clients by helping the IRS get it right. See, for example, “IRS Backs Down and Apologizes.”